'Orange is the New Black' TIME cover misses the mark on transgender awareness

‘Orange is the New Black’ star Laverne Cox (Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images for NYX Cosmetics)

Actress Laverne Cox is the breakout star of Netflix’s original series Orange is the New Black, which focuses on the interwoven lives of female inmates in a fictional New York prison.

Cox portrays one of the program’s most memorable characters, Sophia, a transgender woman — and as a transgender woman herself, Cox is the first African-American actress to perform such a role in an award-winning scripted American series.

For both her acting and activism, Cox has been making headlines all year long — most recently when she graced TIME magazine’s June 9 cover.

While some say it was done in conjunction with today’s season two release of the show, part of the transgender community believes TIME’s decision to place her on the cover came after she was left out of their 100 Most Influential People in the Worldlist, despite being a top contender among the general public.

Cox garnered over 88,000 votes and in a poll released by TIME, over 91% wanted her on the list.

The magazine’s omission of Cox sparked outrage. Though the recent cover seems to be an impressive nod toward the actress, many are criticizing the cover’s accompanying article, “The Transgender Tipping Point.” Some in the LGBTQ community feel that, while the article deserves celebration, it still misses the mark.

Reporters such as ABC’s Katie Couric have asked inappropriate questions regarding genitalia and have often spent lengthy portions of interviews discussing surgery in order to “educate viewers.” The TIME article has received similar criticism. Yet as Cox has said, focusing on narratives that rely on transgender people’s transitions does nothing to move the community forward.

With this in mind, young adults who identify as transgender, nonbinary and queer continue to speak out, hoping to raise awareness and to move the conversation in more productive directions than the TIME article did.

For instance, Kat (also known as Lila) Morey, a sophomore at Georgia State University who identifies as bi-gender, feels the cover was TIME’s way of backtracking after Cox was snubbed from their list.

“To me, it’s a cop-out. It doesn’t mean anything progressive. I feel like the list was rigged because TIME possibly thought they couldn’t have a transgender woman as the most influential and weren’t expecting her to get so many votes,” Morey says. “They had a chance to make serious political statements by allowing her to be on the ‘Most Influential’ cover…. It just shows how far we still have to go.”

Morey believes current mainstream mediums have trouble discussing the real issues because “it’s impossible to talk about trans issues without being radical.”

“There are no soft spots in trans issues. This is a very interesting point in our development as a society because we’ve finally reached an issue that has no ‘safe’ alternative,” she says. “Instead there’s disproportional violence, homelessness, racism, ableism — the only way to change these institutionalized issues is to change the institution.”

But despite the debate surrounding the article and cover, these students still emphasize the importance of representation, as Cox is the first openly transgender person to be placed on the cover of TIME.

Taylor Alexander, a 21-year-old performance artist and activist who identifies as a-gender, says the cover was especially significant for them.

“The TIME cover means a ton to me, and even more so, to trans women. For some, it validates a struggle and fight that has been waged for decades — the space for the transdentity to even be acknowledged,” Alexander says. “To me, personally, as a trans person of color, it definitely signals progression and willingness in society to engage in conversations with and about the trans community.”

Alexander goes on to say that they hope the cover will serve as a needed introduction to the transgender community: “… For the majority of Americans, this is the first time they may have seen a trans person, yet alone began to process what ‘transgender’ even means.”

Ariana Millea, a 21-year-old trans woman and history student, also thinks the article could have gone a step further to ensure it stayed on topic.

“The piece was better than recent interviews, but it could have done even better. It focused too much on her personal history, instead of looking at the inequality transgender people face and how to fix it,” she says.

Millea’s criticism comes with mixed feelings. As a fan of the show, she says Cox’s character Sophia has been helpful to her own growth.

“It’s one of the most progressive shows right now, simply because it didn’t give into a lot of transgender stereotypes. Some of Cox’s previous worked relied on these stereotypes,” she says. “She seemed to be typecast a lot as a sex worker or drug addict. And while these are some stories in the community, they aren’t the only stories.”

Some have taken more issue with the article’s title, saying it ignores the work and progress made by transgender activists long before Orange Is the New Black.

A San Francisco State University student named Ria Deters, who identifies as a queer woman currently in a lesbian relationship, is of that opinion.

“I think in some ways it’s a great thing, but my main issue is with the ‘next’ part of the title. The fight for transgender rights and recognition has been going on for centuries,” she says. “To call Cox the tipping point ignores the work done by others in the community, behind the scenes.”

Cox has made sure to cite her predecessors in interviews, however, and calls herself a “possibility model” (as opposed to a role model) for others to follow.

Still, Deters believes that it’s important to realize that the transgender fight is not a new one.

“This may be a new frontier for mainstreamAmerica, but this has been in the making for years and years now,” she says. “Still, I’m happy that it’s being talked about in a more positive light. I hope that it’s not just a hot button issue that fades away.”

Lindsay Warren, a gender studies teacher from Hunterdon County, N.J., believes the article is a “positive step in combating transphobia.”

“With Ms. Cox’s exclusion from TIME’s list, the cover represented an effort by the magazine,” she says. “The article title captures more of TIME patting themselves on the back than anything, in my opinion. But I do feel that a magazine with the clout of TIME featuring a cover story on her highlights the shift occurring within our culture. With regard to transphobia, exposure and knowing people fights phobia.”

In order to keep the discourse moving, each felt a larger range of issues should be given equal weight — but first and foremost, a clear recognition of human dignity for transgender individuals is needed.

“People still don’t see that we are human beings with identities, experiences and feelings. A lot of folks see us a paradox trying to get rights — and that needs to change,” Alexander says. “I believe the conversation needs to shift to a more humanist stance where people understand us as human beings first, along with recognizing our rights and issues.”